Impacts of the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 (Bill 23)
In November 2022, the Province of Ontario passed the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 (Bill 23). The Bill introduced sweeping impacts to development charges (DCs), Regional planning activities, and other items relevant to both Regional and local municipalities in Durham Region.
In fall 2023, the Province of Ontario’s previous decision to remove lands from the Greenbelt was reversed. The lands have since been returned to their original Greenbelt designation.
While local government does not build housing, they do help plan for it. The Region makes sure that services and infrastructure (such as drinking water and sewer pipes) are planned, paid for and in place to support new housing.
Bill 23 removes Regional Council’s role in approving land-use planning decisions and reduces DC funding to municipalities for infrastructure. The changes introduced in Bill 23 could make this process longer, more expensive and limit our ability to support truly affordable housing.
Existing property taxpayers and ratepayers of Durham Region—as with most other municipalities in Ontario—will be asked to fund future infrastructure to support new homes in our community.
Higher property taxes—at both the local and Regional levels—are now likely. Finding ways to fund larger projects could also mean reducing the level of services that our communities have come to expect.
On December 13, 2023, the Province indicated that it will be consulting with municipalities to review certain aspects of Bill 23 in 2024. The potential changes under consideration would reduce the financial impacts of Bill 23 if implemented.
Durham Regional Council, local area municipalities and Indigenous communities were not consulted on these changes. Supporting about 84,000 new homes in Durham over the next 10 years requires partnerships and collaboration.
The Region is asking the province to engage with municipalities, in a meaningful way, to help increase the supply of different types of housing for all residents and income levels.
Alongside Bill 23, the Province of Ontario introduced legislation to remove lands from the Greenbelt to allow for development. In fall 2023, the province reversed this decision. In Durham, there is enough land to support 84,000 new homes without building on the Greenbelt lands.
Learn more about additional impacts in the various sections below. This page will continue to be updated, as new information becomes available (last updated: December 2023).
Development charges (DCs) and impact to taxpayers |
What are development charges? |
Development charges (DCs) are the main tool that municipalities use to pay for building the new infrastructure required, as its population grows. These capital costs are things like water and sewer pipes, water and wastewater plant expansions, roads, transit and more.
DCs cannot be used to pay for operating expenses. They are for growth-related items in residential (homes) and non-residential (commercial or industrial) development.
In Ontario, the long-standing belief has been that growth pays for growth. When someone bought a new house, DCs would be built into the purchase price. The Region and local municipality would collect these funds to pay for the costs of infrastructure in that community (such as water and sewer pipes). DCs only apply to new builds. Resale homes do not fund DCs.
The impact of Bill 23 phase-ins and discounts is estimated to reduce the DCs collected by about $913 million by 2033. DC exemptions for affordable housing, as defined in Bill 134, are estimated at $204 million for every five per cent of resident units in Durham Region that qualify for the exemption. With reduced DC revenue to fund infrastructure, the financial burden will shift to existing property taxpayers and water and sewer ratepayers.
Bill 23 does not eliminate DCs entirely. There will still be some DCs collected from new units. But, with various new discounts, exemptions and phase-in requirements, new housing will not pay for the infrastructure required to support that community. Growth will not pay for growth. The money needed to support growth will need to be paid by increasing property taxes.
For transparency, the Region is working to include information regarding all property tax and water and sewer rate increases resulting from Bill 23 in the upcoming 2023 Regional property tax bills and future cycles.
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What are Regional reserve funds? |
Municipalities in Ontario, including Durham Region, keep funds in reserve to help pay for expensive infrastructure. We have a long-range capital plan that considers everything that we need to build and save for, over many years. Think of reserve funds as a savings account.
The Region has managed our reserve funds well. We undergo a financial audit every single year and are one of a handful of Canadian municipalities with a Triple A credit rating.
There are two types of reserves: general reserves and reserve funds.
General reserves set money aside for future needs. Through the annual budget cycle, the funds can be used to pay for unexpected costs (such as COVID-19). It is Regional Council that decides how to spend this money.
Reserve funds are different. They are intended to help save for major projects with savings from things like DCs, provincial or federal funding, etc. There are strict rules around how municipalities collect DCs and where the money can be spent. It is not a pool of money that municipalities can use for whatever purpose they choose. Reserve funds are intended to help save for major projects—like new police and paramedic stations—rather than needing a large tax or user rate fee increase in one year.
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Finding funds through property taxes and water and sewer rates |
Durham Region has estimated that the impact of Bill 23 will reduce DCs by about $913 million by 2033. This means there will be less funding available for major capital projects.
Durham Region provides infrastructure and offers many services—most of which are funded by property taxes. There are limited other revenue options, such as provincial funding and water and sewer rates.
All properties in Durham Region pay property taxes. They are collected by the city or town that the person lives in. Property taxes are determined by a formula. It includes the assessed value of the home, and the tax rate in the city or town. A certain amount of each homeowners’ property taxes is directed to the Region to help fund the delivery of various Regional programs and services.
Water and sewer rates are pay-per-use fees for people connected to the municipal supply system. This means that people who have a well or septic system, on their property, do not pay water or sewer rates. They are not funded by property taxes. Instead, Durham Regional Council approves the water and sewer rates each year.
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What services could be impacted? |
The Region of Durham agrees that we need more housing. However, Bill 23 means that existing property taxpayers could either face significant tax increases, or decreased services, because of reduced DC funding for growing cities and towns.
Infrastructure is crucial to help growing communities be connected and resilient. Possible situations include:
- Less affordable housing is built. Bill 23 eliminates DC revenue that was supporting the Region to reach its At Home in Durham goal of 1,000 new affordable housing units by 2024.
- Overcrowded and aging buses. A 20 per cent reduction in the Region’s transit DCs happened the day Bill 23 took effect and could impact investment in transit service in the region.
- Traffic congestion from not maintaining or expanding roads, outdated police and paramedic stations as projects are delayed, to instead pay for things like water and sewer pipes to a new subdivision.
- Less parks, recreational facilities and libraries. At the local municipal level, cities and towns collect DCs and parkland dedication fees to support municipal recreation facilities and green spaces.
- Increased tax and water utility bills to cover the reduced DC funding.
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Durham Region supports affordable housing
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- Durham Region supports the provincial goal of building more homes. Housing is a priority for Durham Regional Council because it forms the building blocks of our communities.
- Durham needs more affordable housing—housing which is available for rent at about 80 per cent of the market rate—for those who qualify. Bill 23 will impact the ability for the Region to support affordable housing.
- In 2021, the Region funded a 24-unit affordable housing project in Oshawa using DCs that had been collected since 2018. The housing services component was also used in 2022 to support a 52-unit affordable housing project in Clarington.
- In 2023, the Region provided capital grants and planning services to develop two affordable housing projects: $5.5 million for Riverbank Homes Limited to build 75 units in Oshawa, and $1.95 million for Kindred Works to build 13 units in Pickering.
- The Region also continues to explore mixed-use and sustainably built affordable and market-rent housing via the Ritson School Project in Oshawa. Site is scheduled to include health and social programs to serve the surrounding community.
- Affordable housing is crucial to ensuring all residents have a place to call home.
- In addition to limiting the DCs that can be used to support affordable housing projects, there is nothing in Bill 23 to ensure the savings from developers will be reflected in the purchase of a new home, or that housing will become more attainable.
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Importance of Regional planning |
Regional governments are important to supporting new housing construction and shaping our communities.
Regional planning aims to ensure that future growth is balanced with required services (transit service, water, sewer and roads).
Durham Regional Council uses the Durham Regional Official Plan to ensure infrastructure is planned and delivered in a co-ordinated and responsible manner. It is about creating resilient communities. It is about protecting the environment. It is about preserving our agricultural land base; a vital piece of our local and provincial economies.
Bill 23 removes the Region’s approval role in land-use planning. The Region of Durham and six other upper-tier municipalities will be “upper-tier municipalities without planning responsibilities.” But a date has not been given for when that might happen.
The role of Regional planning extends beyond approving development plans. Regional planning teams develop the Regional Official Plan. This guides and co-ordinates development on a regional scale. It includes things like:
- Planning and services for employment areas to support job creation.
- Planning for transit-oriented communities—higher-density communities, centred around public transit, takes regional co-ordination. Vibrant, sustainable transit-oriented communities are key in attracting talent and supporting prosperity.
- Planning-related impacts to the Greenbelt and Conservation Authorities.
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Impacts to Conservation Authorities (CAs) |
Under Bill 23, the role of Conservation Authorities as a support to municipalities has been limited. Now, their role will only be to comment on planning applications that relate to natural hazards and flooding. Some of the previous responsibilities of the CAs has been transferred to municipalities.
There are five CAs within Durham Region. For decades, the Region and local municipalities have relied on the expertise of CAs to help protect sensitive natural heritage features. They would be consulted through development approvals. They helped to mitigate natural hazards and flooding in new development areas. Bill 23 has changed this. CAs provide insight and advice to municipalities to support the review of new development applications.
CAs have also been asked to review their land ownership—purchased with significant contributions from local taxpayers—to identify what, if any, areas could be used for housing.
This initiative is a threat to the conservation areas that our residents have come to enjoy. It risks houses being built in locations that are not suitable for development.
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Capacity in the York Durham Sewage System (YDSS) |
The Region of Durham and the Region of York share responsibility for operation of the York Durham Sewage System (YDSS), including the Duffin Creek Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) in Pickering. The Supporting Growth and Housing in York and Durham Region Act requires York to send sewage and wastewater (such as water from doing laundry or washing dishes) from communities in upper York to Durham Region at the Duffin Creek WPCP.
This mandated additional servicing would exclusively support Aurora, East Gwillimbury and Newmarket in York Region. Treating upper York’s sewage and wastewater in Pickering means more homes can be built in York—without any community benefits to Durham Region residents.
The Region is asking the province to ensure that any financial implications are revenue neutral for Durham Region residents.
For more information on the York Region Sewage Works Project, visit york.ca/SewageProject.
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Local perspectives |
Town of Ajax
Township of Brock
Municipality of Clarington statement and council report
City of Oshawa statement and council report
City of Pickering
Township of Scugog
Township of Uxbridge
Town of Whitby Video on Bill 23 and Bill 23 FAQs
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